Traveling Alone

After secret discussions continued a bit longer, the Snake King sweetened the deal with several more terms, but Qin Sang turned every one down. Qin Sang did not lack magic treasures. The ebony sword was on the verge of transforming into a top-grade magic treasure, and the demonic banners were every bit as formidable, enough to ensure he would not need to go out of his way chasing after magic treasures during the Nascent Soul stage. Seeing that Qin Sang genuinely had no desire to go rather than merely haggling, the Snake King had no choice but to take his leave with regret. After seeing the Snake King off, Qin Sang thought to himself that he could not keep waiting around for the ebony sword. He needed to set out as soon as possible and let it finish refining slowly along the journey, while keeping as low a profile as possible upon first arriving in the Sin Abyss. Otherwise, if the Snake King and his cohort stirred up trouble in the Sin Abyss and triggered martial law, Qin Sang would suffer collateral damage as well. With this in mind, Qin Sang swiftly arranged all his affairs. He sought out Jing Lin and his companion and stated that he would be away for a time. Though somewhat reluctant, they knew they had no grounds to stop him. Fortunately, the momentum of the Sin Abyss had waned compared to when the offensive began, and Chan Ling had pulled his head into his shell like a tortoise. "Master, this humble one has already refined the Qingluan thunder power! My thunder escape arts have advanced by leaps and bounds, and I can already feel the bottleneck to the late stage loosening! You are venturing alone into the tiger's den—if you run into trouble and can't be in two places at once, wouldn't that put you in a bind? I am willing to lay down my life and serve you with total devotion! I will obey every command!" Before Qin Sang departed, Fat Chicken came knocking, shamelessly begging Qin Sang to take him along. Qin Sang glanced sideways at Fat Chicken. "Aren't you afraid that if we're hunted down by a Sin Abyss Nascent Soul cultivator, this master might toss you out as bait?" Fat Chicken's expression froze. He choked out, "As long as it buys Master a path to survival, I would gladly die!" Whether he even believed his own words was anyone's guess. Qin Sang gave a cold scoff, but he brought Fat Chicken along nonetheless. The bird might prove useful after all. Less than half a month after the Snake King departed, Qin Sang set off. According to the route he had planned, he could not cut straight through enemy lines and cross the grasslands into the Sin Abyss. It was best to detour through the great desert. Doing so would take more time, but it was far safer. He traveled west first, crossing Mount Shiqu and arriving near Hukou Pass, which was garrisoned by the demon race. The defense arrayed by the Sin Abyss was much looser here. Qin Sang found an opening and quietly slipped away from the Tianxing Plateau. The surroundings grew increasingly desolate. After proceeding across the gravelly gobi for some distance, endless expanses of yellow sand stretched before him. The desert was blisteringly hot—a stark contrast to the chilly Tianxing Plateau, like two entirely different worlds. Between the colossal dunes, scorching winds swept violently, beginning to take the shape of a sandstorm. At this moment, a figure quietly appeared atop a dune, brow furrowed as he gazed ahead. The sky and earth were cast in murky yellow; the sandstorm was imminent! An invisible barrier seemed to envelop him, blocking out every grain of windblown sand, and he paid no heed to the terrifying storm. This person was none other than Qin Sang. Observing the path ahead, he murmured to himself, "The patrols are growing fewer and farther between. After traveling a bit farther, I should be able to let my guard down and travel at full speed." With his cultivation, unless he ran into a Sin Abyss Nascent Soul cultivator, he had little reason to fear anything. Considering this region was already occupied by the Sin Abyss, and wishing to stir up as little trouble as possible, Qin Sang kept an extremely low profile along the way, so his pace had naturally remained slow. Rumble! In an instant, heaven and earth turned dark. The sandstorm swept in violently. Qin Sang narrowed his eyes. With a flicker of his figure, he vanished into thin air, effortlessly slipping through the sandstorm. After flying onward for a while longer, a patch of emerald green suddenly entered his field of vision. "Another oasis. The spiritual energy seems quite abundant..." After a moment's thought, Qin Sang activated his breath-concealment art and flew toward the oasis. Before long, Qin Sang stood atop a verdant hill at the center of the oasis, looking down at the scattered ruins all around, letting out a barely audible sigh. This had clearly once been the grounds of a cultivation sect. Now, the sect's mountain gate had been destroyed by the Sin Abyss. Whether its disciples were alive or dead, or where they had drifted, was unknown. Fortunately, the Sin Abyss was not so maniacal as to slaughter mortals. The mortals of the oasis were still able to survive, though without the protection of immortal cultivators, scraping by in the desert would be vastly harder. Along his journey, such sights were all too common. The immortal cultivators of the desert had suffered under the Sin Abyss's butcher knife long ago. "What on earth is the Sin Abyss trying to achieve? And Old Demon Ye—does he truly just want to become the sole ruler of the Beichen Realm?" Qin Sang shook his head and continued on his way. The vast desert seemed truly endless. This journey could be considered a form of experiential cultivation as well. Qin Sang prioritized traveling, but when encountering the unique spectacles of the desert, he would stop to observe. He even ventured deeper into the desert intentionally to make contact with the desert's cultivation world and witness the influence of the Sin Abyss here, seeking to learn as much as possible about the Sin Abyss. Along this stretch, he encountered the cultivation sects of the desert and witnessed many Daoist arts unique to desert cultivators. Among them was a premier sect overseen by a Nascent Soul cultivator, with an ancient lineage no less distinguished than the great sects of the Xiaohan Realm. Regrettably, this sect had originally been located on an oasis near the Sin Abyss. Pressed by circumstances, they had no choice but to abandon their mountain gate and migrate into the desert depths to take refuge. Fortunately, the Great Beichen Desert was vast enough that the Sin Abyss's demonic claws could not reach every single corner. Yet what surprised Qin Sang was that the Sin Abyss actually possessed the strength to wage war on two fronts! While traveling through, Qin Sang happened to meet that grand sect master. Meeting like drifting duckweed on water, neither probed into the other's secrets. They sat and discussed the Dao, each gaining insights, before Qin Sang drifted away. The desert did not lack secret realms and ancient cave dwellings, but Qin Sang had no desire to enter them to hunt for treasures. Traveling and pausing like this, it took him nearly two full months to cross the Beichen Desert diagonally and enter the Sin Abyss. It was wartime, and the interior of the Sin Abyss dared not slack off in the slightest. The immortal cultivators left behind to guard the sects patrolled regularly. Qin Sang was forced to slow down again. This suited him well enough, allowing him to gradually familiarize himself with the landscape of the Sin Abyss, flesh out Senior Sister's topographical map, and slowly draw closer to Mount Jinhen. This place was not the demon realm advertised by the Two Domains Alliance, filled with bloodshed, mountains of corpses, and seas of blood. In the heartland of the Sin Abyss, mortals lived and worked in peace and contentment. Because cultivation sects were mostly concentrated on both flanks of the Heavenly Scar, the Sin Abyss's policy toward mortals differed from that of the Xiaohan Realm. Instead, they dispatched low-level disciples who had no hope of advancement in cultivation to serve as monarchs, governing the mortals and selecting talented disciples. Yet for reasons unknown, warfare among the mortal realms remained frequent. Qin Sang did not look into it deeply. Having gained a rough understanding, he quickened his pace. Mount Jinhen's mountain gate lay on the eastern bank of the Heavenly Scar. Evading patrol guards time and again, Qin Sang finally laid eyes upon the legendary Heavenly Scar! The sight before him was truly awe-inspiring; no wonder it was called the Heavenly Scar! The earth had split open here, spanning a thousand li across, bottomless, plunging straight to the Netherworld! It made one wonder whether, one day, the two landmasses would be completely severed. Endless white mist rose from the depths of the abyss. Even if a cultivator poured spiritual power into their eyes, it was difficult to discern the scenery on the opposite shore. Drifting within the mist were fragments of restrictions, glowing with strange, iridescent lights that seemed profoundly mysterious. Ordinary cultivators did not dare fly directly across the Heavenly Scar through the air. At some of the Heavenly Scar's narrowest points, various factions had established teleportation arrays. While their range was far inferior to ancient teleportation arrays, they were just right for serving this purpose here. "What a Heavenly Scar!" Qin Sang marveled.